Feeding water to boilers



ug. 20, 1935. v. v. VEENSCHOTEN FEEDING WATER TO BOILERS Filed Oct. 30,1953 s Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 20, 1935. v. v. VEENSCHOTEN 2,011,600

FEEDING WATER TO BOILERS Filed Oct. 30, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. 29,1935. v. v. VEENSCHOTEN 2,011,600

FEEDING WATER o BOILERS vFiled Oct. 30, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Aug. 20,1935. i v. v. VEENSCHOTEN 2,011,600

FEEDING WATER T0 BOILERS Filed Oct. 30, 19:3 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Aug. 20,1935. v. VEENSCHQTEN 2,011,600

FEEDING WATER TO BOILERS Filed Oct. 30, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 staresPATENT or-Flcs FEEDING WATER- T0 BOILERS VincentV. Veenschoten, Erie,Pa., assignor to Northern Equipment Company, Erie, Pa., a corporation ofPennsylvania Application October 30, 1933, Serial No. 695,726

21 Claims.

This invention relates to the feeding of water to boilers and has forits object providing a suitable method of feeding water to theboilerswhen it is desired to mix therewith a chemical for precipitatingor other purposes, and also iorpro- .viding: suitable apparatus forcarrying out the method.

In boiler operation, as is well understood, the

continual evaporation of water in the boiler increases the'concentration of soluble and insoluble matter in the water whichproduces deposits of scale, foaming and priming and causticembrittlement, and not only necessitates frequent blowing down of thewater but is otherwise objectionable. It has been the practice tointroduce with the feed water certain chemicals, such as sodiumphosphate, usually in solution, to assist in keeping the boiler surfaceclean. It is also common to pass into the boiler the condensate providedby the condensation of the steam .used for various purposes, or tointroduce water without objectionable chemicals therein, in addition toraw water which is provided to make up the deficiency! In any case, itis usually desirable, when introducing the sodium phosphate, toproportion it to the amount of impurities that go in with the feed waterrather than in proportion to the total amount of water. Herein, forconvenience, I shall refer tothepure water that is introduced as thecondensate, and to the impure water as the make-up, and to the liquidwhich contains the chemical, such as sodium phosphate, as the treatment.

One object of my invention is to provide for supplying to the boiler thetreatment in proportion to the make-up, without any reference to theproportion of the make-up to the condensate, it being understood that,in practice, the proportion of the make-up to the condensate variesgreatly from time to time, even with the same boiler load.

Of the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a more or less diagrammaticelevation of a boiler system and the means therefor which supply liquidsthereto, according to my invention; Fig.

2 is an enlarged plan view of the proportioni'ng valves of Fig. I; Fig.3 is a sectional view along the line 33 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is asectionalview along the line 4',' of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic elevationoita modified form of apparatus; Fig.6 shows a modification of thesystem illustrated by Fig. 5; Fig.7 illustrates a further modification;and Figs; 8 and 9 illustrate by enlarged 'drawingsthe proportioningvalves of Fig. 7.;

Referring to Figl, the upper portion of the figure represents a batteryof boilers in, which are being supplied with treated water through thepipes H, by means of the feed water valves E2, the opening of the valvesbeing controlled by any of the ordinary feed water regulators, such asthe thermostats l3. The water is supplied to each boiler through a mainM, by means of a pump !5, which draws the treated water from a storagetank I 6.

In this instance, the water consists of the condensate, the make-upwater, and the treatment. I'he latter we may consider as a suitablechemical for suitably treating the water in the boilers. The condensateis passed directly into the storage tank IS, in any suitable manner,such as by means of a pipe I l. The make-up water is passed into thetank through a pipe l8, andthe treatment is passed into the tank througha pipe 20. The valve 22 is adapted to control the flow of make-up waterinto the pipe I8 from any suitable source of supply under pressurethrough a pipe 23. The valve 24 controls the flow of the treatment froma suitable tank 25 through a pipe 26.

In order to maintain constantly the predetermined relation between themass of make-up water and treatment, the valves 22 and 24 are operatedsynchronously and proportionately by common operating means. These meanscomprise a float 21 mounted in the storage tank l6 and adapted tooperate an external arm 28 in an ordinary manner. This arm controls anarm 30, which is arranged to operate simultaneously the plungers- 34 and35 of the valves 22 and 2 4.

Referring to Figs. 2, 3 and 4, it will be seen that the. valves 22 and24 are associated by means of a spindle 3|. Each end of the spindle isarranged to pass into one of the valve casings and is operatively fixedto an arm 32 or 33 therein,

and these arms are arranged respectively to opthe tank will be decreasedproportionately, if a properly arranged, as the two valves will beclosed proportionately the same amount.

As a consequence of this arrangement, the proportionate amounts oftreatment and makeup liquids willremain constant,without 'referthe waterin the tank i6 will rise sufficiently to entirely close the valves'22and 2'3, but if, at any time, the condensate is not suif cientfor the aneeds, these valves will be opened-more or less to meet, the needs ofthe boiler. ,But in any, such case, the proportionate amount 46f liquidpassed through the valves willremain unchanged.

inlet and outlet.

will vary, changing the pressure in'the inletiof thevalve accordingly.Orfas is"well"understoo'd.

the pressure of the make-up liquid in the pipe 23' may be, varied, orthe pressure in the tank 16 may be varied, depending upon; variouscircu'm. stancesk. T

gI-Ience, to insure v a proportionate: amount of how through" thesevalves; irrespective of: variationsin theinlet or outlet pressures,1Iprovide means for maintaining a constant drop inpresmeans is old.- But Iprefer forithe purpose the use ofa sylphon bellows iil mountedin thecasing of the valveLEZand operatively connected i-with the'o'utl'et ofthe valve and'with the inner chamber I H; and 1 also operativelyconnected with the plunger 42, which controls'the flow of liquid i fromthe pipe 23 into the chamber 4|. As is well 'u'nderstood, thisarrangement is such that 'a' constant drop in pressure through: theplunger 34 will be maintainedand, hence, the-flow of watertherethroughwill beproportionalto the magnitude of the o-peningof thevalve;Similarly with valve 24. The sylphon bellows 43 "maintains aconstantdrop in pressure through the plunger 35, so that the flow of treatmentis'al ways'proportional to the opening of the ports therethrough. i Y

While my invention has no particular relation to'the chemicalthat may beused for properly affecting the chemicals in the make-up-water,

I yetit is customary for such purposes to use sodium phosphate, and theintroduction of this substance into the make-up water as herein de-'scribed tends to form a coat on the inner surface of the'pipes l9 andlt-throughwhich the liquid passes on its way to theboiler; 'Ihistendency'to lime up thepip'e's is to be avoided, if pos- I sible,-{andto accomplish this, when sodiu'mph'os phate' or, similar chemicals areused in the q treatment; I'provide a somewhatmodified system,"which isillustrated in'Figfi. "This system isadapted to pass the treatment whichmay be necessary directly into each of the boilers of the "batterysubstantially in proportion to the amount of make'upliquid that is:passed in that particu lar-boilen-but to entirely preventany mixing" ofthetwo liquids before the boiler is-reachedb I The system'which Iprovide for this purpose is similar to thatof Fig. 1, except that thepipe 2!] is replacedby'a pipe 50 which passes the treatment fromthe'proportiohing valve's'into atank 58', instead :of into thestoragetank 52which corresponds to thetanklfi of the other system. Thistreatment is then "forcedyby means of a pump 53, through a pipe 54 to:amain treatment pipe-:55.l'i Themake up liquid passes ,into thetankforced, by. means of a pump through a pipe '58 into the main pipe 60.The pumps 53 and 51 may. be operated by any suitable means. As

shown, they are operated by steam, but the pump 53, for. instance, maybe, operated by an electric motor, the controller of which is re- 7'sponsive to the liquid level in the tank 5|. However, the amount ofliquid passing through. 1 either valve is not necessarily proportional"to the opening of the valve, as'the amounts flowing f will'depend alsoupon the pressures in the valve, Obviously; asthe amount of treatmentinv the tank 25 varies, the head thereof In this manner, the make-up andthe treatand 52 are always substantially proportional as before,irrespective of the condensate that is passed into the tank 52. It willbe understood that the proportioning of the treatment to the boilers orto the tanks may be regulated in various 'mannersysuchas by adjustingthe pressuremaintainedby the pressure regulating valves on the treatmentlines. I

Inthe branches 6i and 62 are valves 63,.which may be similar tothevalvesEZ and 24, except the boilers lilliquid in proportion to theneeds,

in an ordinary manner. The only difference is that there are two pipes66 and 51 feeding the boiler instead of one, and in each of the pipes isavalve corresponding to the valves 22 and 26.

These valves, however, may be any suitable constant pressure dropvalves, such asthe valves of Figs.8and9.'

" It will thus be seen that, mymeansof the valves 22 and 24, in thissystem the treatment issupplied to the tank 5i in proportion to the'supplyof the make-up liquid to the taank 52, entirely irrespective ofthe condensate which is supplied through the pipe 56 in any ordinarymanner. At the same time, the two liquids are properly 'distributedtojthe, individual boilers of the battery as thev valves. "open alwaysProportional; This, however, does not mean that these two valves willpass. proportional amounts of liquid. If such were the case, the amountof 'inent are properly proportioned as before, by means of the valves 22and 24 operated in the manner'already described, by the float 2'5 in thetank 52, So that the amount of the two liquids 1 whichf'are delivered tothe respective tanks El treatmentwould'be proportional to the combinedamounts of ..make-up. and condensates The pump 53 being controlled bythe elevation of the liquid level in the tank 5 l ,the pressure in thepipe 62 is 'variedacc'ordingly, For :"i'nstanc'e, if the system ,isbeingefully supplied by the condensate,- althoughithe'valve in-pipe 62will be open in the same proportion as the valvein pipe G Lyet therewill be no fiow therethrough, as the ValvesBSsupplying steam tothe, pump53 will be closed by the float 59. Or, in any event, the flow oftreatment through the pipe .62 will be proportional to the pressuredelivered-by the pump 53, and this in turn will be proportional to themakeupliquid'supplied to the tank 52.

f I have found that it is unnecessary to provide, at. least in.somecases, the treatment tank 5|.

This'may be eliminatedby passing the steam for rectly tromthe: tank25 tothe pipe 62 and hence, is delivered to that pipe always-in proportion toaonhoo the-amount of make-pp. liquid. This system is illustratedin Fig-6.-

1. This systemcomprises the valves '10 and H, whiclrf'mayibe in allrespects similar to the valves 22,. and 2G hereinabovedescribed. Themake-up water is passed through the'pipe 12 and the valve 'tank [3through .the' pipe 8!.

i thispump pumps. themixed water fromthe tank into the.- main. pipe 84.p .The remainder of the system haswnot'been: il-

' lustrated, as itmay be in all respects similar through the pipe I83 as.tothe system. illustrated in Fig.3 5; The, treatment and the mixedliquids pass from the main pipes through suitable valves, such as thevalves 22 and, 2.4, into the. respective boilers, these valves beingcontrolled bythe feed water regulator as hereinabove described.

. With; this arrangement, the supply of treatment will always beproportional to the supply of make-up, just as with the other systems,irre-v spectiverof the amount of condensate supplied. Ifithe condensatealone is suffi'cient to supply the needs-oh the boilers, the valves. 79and H will close andno treatment will be supplied by the pump it. As thevalves 75 and H open, in case of.;insumcient condensate, the amount oftreatment .passedb-y the. pump 75 will always 'be proportional. to themake-up passed intothetank 13...

Figs. 7 to 9- illustrate'a system somewhat similarv to that shown inFig. 5.. In, this case,'however, the method of providing constantpressure drop through the valves corresponding to valves 22 and 2 5 ismaterially diiiferent... To accomplish I provide constant liquid headsabove the valves, For this purpose,I provide tanks 95 and 91 which, bymeans of floats 92 and 93, maintain at, a, constant elevation thelevelof. the liquid therein. These vfioatseontrol valves 94 and 95, whichcontrol the flow of. make-up liquid through 'thepipe iifiandatreatmentthrough the pipe 91.

Fromthesetanks, themakeup flows through the pipe 98 and valve 99=-tothesto-rage tank I66, and the treatment flows through the pipe NH andvalve. 02 to'thegtank' N33. The" valves 99 and H32 are operated by thefloat substantially as described with reference to the valves 22 and 24,so that these valves open simultaneously and proportionally at all timesand, hence, pass proportional amounts of liquids therethrough. The pumpsI04 and H25 pass the liquids to the mains I06 and I91, as hereinabovedescribed. The condensate may be passed to the storage tank with thesystem of Figs. 5 and 6. i

The valve system for passing the liquids from the mains to the boilersis in general the same as has been described with reference to Fig. 5.

But in this case I prefer to position the valves and to connect them upsomewhat differently. The pipe H0 conveys the make-up liquid to theboiler through the valve l l l which is substantially the same as thevalve 22 illustrated in Fig. 3. The valves H2 and H3 convey thetreatment to the boiler through the pipe H4, and these valves aresubstantially the same as the valves 24 illustrated in Fig. 4. In eachcase, the valve systern provides a constant pressure drop therethrough.

Each feed Water regulator H5 operates the tively,

valve' lever H6 ma well known mannenland this leveroperatessimultaneously and proportionally the plungers. H and H8 of thevalves M l. and H3. This is accomplished by. means of the arms I23 and24 and the adjustable connectboiler, the aggregate amount of waterpassed to i the boiler will be substantially proportional to the load onthe boiler. However, any ordinary or suitable means for regulating theflow directly responsive' to. the load itself could be introduced inthese systems, as is done in otherfeed water systems: 1

It maybe desired to feed the treatment to the boilers in proportion tothe total amount of water fed thereto. This may be accomplished in caseof the system of Fig. '7 by passing the condensate into the tank 98, bymeans of the pipe 20.. Byclosing the valve iii and opening the valveI22, andwith a suitable source of supply of condensate, the condensatewould pass into the tank an instead ofthe tank 480 and, hence, the tank90 would become a storage tank and the valves 99 and I02 would pass thetreatmentproportional to the total amount of water which passed to theboiler. In case of Fig. 5, this same process would be carried out bypassing the condensate together with the make-up liquid through the pipe23, instead of passing the condensate through the pipe 56.

I claim as my invention:'

1. A boiler feed water system comprising three independent pipes fortransmitting, respectively, a treatment, a make up, and acondensateliquid, a valve in each of the treatment and the make up pipes, a tank,means responsive to the liquid level elevationin the tank for operatingsimultaneously and proportionally said valves, each of the three pipescommunicating with the tank, andmeans for forcing liquid from thetankinto the boiler.

2. A boilerfeed water system comprising three independent pipes fortransmitting respectively, treatment, make up and condensate. liquids, avalve in each of two of the pipes, means for operating simultaneouslyand proportionally said valves, a tank, each of the three pipescommunicating with the tank, and means for forcing liquid from the tankinto the boiler, the said operating means comprising a float mounted inthe tank and operatively associated with each of the valves.

3. A boiler feed water system comprising a first, a second and a thirdpipe for transmitting respec-' treatment, make up and condensate liq-1uids, a valve in the first and the second pipes, a tank for containingliquids, the third pipe and second pipe communicating with the tank,means responsive to the liquid level elevation in the tank for operatingsaid valves, means for passing liquid from the tank to the boiler, andmeans for passing a liquid from the outlet of the first valve to theboiler.

4. A boiler feed water system as claimed in claim 3, the latter meanscomprising a second tank, and a pump, and means responsive to the liquidlevel elevation l in the v second, tank. for passingliquid from thesecondtank to the boiler.

1 513A boiler 'feed vwater'system asclaimed in claim '3, .each of saidpassing means comprisin'g a valve-and means responsive to theliquidlevelelevation in the, boiler forksir'nultaneously andproportionally operating the two' valves of the passing. means. i I 4' Is 6. "A boiler feed water. system as ciaimdrm 1 [boilerforsimultaneously and proportionally operating the two valves of thepassingjmeans.

. 2 8.-'In a boiler gfeed water: system, meansfor claim 3 comprisingmeans for producing. equal passing-into the boiler variable amounts'of acondensate' liquid, {and means for passing to. the

boiler proportionalamountsof mak'e-uptwater.

and a liquid treatment, said latter means .arranged to pass amounts ofthe make-up and the treatm'entinversely proportionalgto the amount 7 ofcondensate passed to the boiler.

9. Ina boiler system as claimed in claim 8, in'

which. said lattermeans comprises two pipes, a valve ,in each pipe,means for operating simul- 1 taneously and-proportionallysaidvalves, oneof the-pipes being 'adapted'to transmit the make-up i water, and theother pipe adaptedtotran'smit the treatment." .7 10. In a boiler feedwater system as claimed in claim 8, [said latter means comprising twovalves and means for operating said valves simul--' taneously and'proportional1y,uthe amount of make-up water and treatment passedto theboiler being;respectivelyresponsive to the opening of i the valves.

11. In a boiler feed water system a first," a

second,and ;a third pipe for transmitting, respectively, ;a, treatment,amake upyand a .condensate liquid, a valve inthe first and'in the secondpipe, a tank for containing liquids, the secondand the third pipeadaptedto pass liquids inthe tank,- means responsive to the, liquid level V inthe tank for operating the two valves, means for passing liquid from thetank to the boiler,

. 1 and means responsive to the opening of thevalve I in the first pipefor passing a third liquid into the boiler.. u

. of make-up water passed thereto.

12. In a boiler feed. water. system as'claimed in claim 11, said lattermeans comprising a pipe for transmitting the third-liquid, a pumpoperatively connected tothe latter pipe,.apipe connecting the pumpwiththe boiler, said first pipe 1 being connected to the pump .and'adaptedto convey: a'power fluidvto said pump. f 13.;In a'boiler feed'watersystem, means for passing into the boiler variable'amounts of make-upwater and means forgpassing' intothe boiler, .continuously andautomatically, amounts of'a liquid treatment proportional totheaino-unts .14. Aiboilerieed water system'as claimediin claim 3,comprising two tanks mounted above the valves, the first and the secondpipes :communi- 'cating with the: respective tanks, and means forpassing arliquid 'intoeach of .the latter tanks;

' 15. A boilerfeed water system as claimedin liquidpressures at theinlets of the two 'valvesn 16. A boiler. feed water system. as claimedin claim 1, comprising means for providing. constant liquidpressuredrops througheach of the valves.

4 19. A method of feeding water to boilers consisting in passing to theboiler under: constant loadvariable amounts of condensate, in feedingto" the boiler at the same time aggregate amounts of makeup water andtreatment inversely equal to the amount of change of condensate, and infeeding the treatment proportion to the amount-of make-up water.

20. A method of feeding water to a battery of boilers, consisting inpassingto each of the boilers a mixture of make upand' condensate water,and in simultaneously passing to the boiler an-amount of treatmentliquid proportional to the amount of make-up in the'mixture. I V

21.'A method of feeding water as claimed in claim 20, the treatmentbeing passed to the'b'oiler independently of the mixture. i

VINCENT v.--vEENsoHoTEN.

